El Tour de Poor and Busy Paul

Phoenix? I knew I shouldn't have taken that left turn in Albequerque

Well, I originally intended to ride out to Butcher Jones beach on Saguaro Lake, I slept in though so at 6:30 I wouldn't be able to get out there and back by 9. I would have to settle for the Salt River at Water Users just below the dam for Saguaro Lake. Heading out the door it was chilly. I probably could have used leg warmers but I did OK without them. Heading up Usery Pass I was keeping over 10 mph all the way up and I felt really good about that. Coming back over the other way though I would realize that there was a strong wind coming up the hill this morning so I cheated I guess. Descending the other side I would see that somebody had painted "Brumbies" on the road in Tour De France fashion. The Brumbies are a racing team that train in the east valley. I figured there must be a race or something going on today (I realize now I was being extremely clueless). It was a beautiful morning and pedalling through the rollers to the bluepoint bridge was fun as it usally is. The cliffs and river were beautiful with the wildflowers blooming and the shadows of the early morning sun.

El Rio Salado

I took a couple of pictures at Water Users. Water Users is the location that the tubers get dropped off during the summer to start their binge drinking and dehydration party as they tube down the Salt River. Perhaps this would explain why I had the "Barney the Boozehound" song from the Simpsons Parody of Mary Poppins stuck in my head this morning even if they don't start the tubing until Memorial Day.

Your's truly courtesy of 10 second timer man.

On the way back I would see an easy up shade tent setup on the side of the road and then something suddenly clicked. This was El Tour de Phoenix weekend and the lead peloton was likely not too far behind! I kept expecting to see the peloton come up from behind me, and me feeling like PeeWee Herman as I road along on my bike with headlight, taillight, huge seatbag, and all the other dorky stuff I use as a randonneur. I kept seeing people on the side of the road looking to cheer on the riders and at the top a makeshift stop for.... the Brumbies of all people (hope they don't get a vandalism ticket seeing as they kind of gave themselves away having a sign that says "The Brumbies" being displayed about half a mile from where they painted it on the road).

Super Master Rando Ninja finds a new mask!

I found a skier's balaclava on the side of the road. Figuring my kids would get a kick out of it I picked it up.

The trip home from Usery pass was fairly uneventful other than the stiff headwind most of the way.